Like her predecessor David Cameron, May opposed the Brexit vote and wanted Britain to remain in the E.U. However, May has no intention to hold a second do-over referendum-“Brexit means Brexit”, she said earlier this week.
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“I know I’m not a showy politician”, May said last month.
The prime ministerial Jaguar left 10 Downing St.in mid-morning, taking Cameron to Parliament.
Meanwhile, Tuesday was proving a landmark day for the main opposition Labour Party, whose embattled leader Jeremy Corbyn – hugely popular with grassroots members – is facing a leadership challenge from Angela Eagle after losing the confidence of at least 75 percent of his MPs. She will need to live up to that reputation in a political environment which is unpredictable and tumultuous.
May supported remaining in the European Union, but has promised to give prominent Leave campaigners key cabinet roles in a bid to heal the party’s longstanding split over Europe.
Britain had faced a leadership vacuum in the wake of the momentous vote to leave the European Union, sending the pound to a 31-year low and triggering a slump in markets. Like Labour premier Tony Blair, he was a young leader who dragged his sometimes reluctant party toward the political center.
For the second time in the nation’s history, the United Kingdom will be led by a woman – and as it was the first time with Margaret Thatcher, that woman will be from the Conservative Party.
Some British politicians have argued that Britain could negotiate a deal to say in the single market without having to accept European Union rules on free movement of people.
When former Conservative Chancellor Kenneth Clarke was caught on camera a week ago calling her “a bloody hard woman”, the hashtag #bloodydifficultwoman began trending, with the Twitter world asking if that statement would be ever be said by a man of a man.
As Conservative chairwoman in 2002, she made waves by suggesting the Tories were seen as “the nasty party” and needed to overhaul their image – although under Cameron’s leadership, they did so. May has said she will not start the process until next year, but she may face strong pressure to accelerate the plan.
Clarke said prolonged economic uncertainty could damage the economy in Britain and the wider EU. May will need to work with James Duddridge, the UK’s minister for Africa, to form dozens of new trade agreements between Britain and African countries as well as their regional blocs.
May and Leadsom had been due to contest a ballot of grassroots Conservative party members, with the result to be declared by September 9.
Theresa May, who will be formally confirmed as Britain’s 76th Prime Minister on Wednesday, is the daughter of a Church of England vicar and has been often compared with Margaret Thatcher. Last year, she launched an inquiry into the improper handling of child abuse. Commentators and Tory lawmakers say like Thatcher, May, 59, is unclubbable and aloof. Philip, a banker and also an Oxford graduate, met her during their years at the University.
Meanwhile Jean-Claude Juncker’s spokesman insisted that the European commission chief and former Luxembourg PM “can cope” with negotiations with May, who has been touted in London as a “bloody hard woman”.
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Forty-eight hours later, May endorsed that description of her, saying Britain needs “a bloody hard woman”.
